Thursday, 28 April 2011

I'm a bit late with the midweek this week, so sorry about that ladies and gents. This week, instead of a tutorial, Debbie has kindly offered you up some freebies. There is the complete set of cupcakes, including one ready for decoupage and borders, and a lovely fairy and sentiment. The fairy is also part of a set but if you want the others, you'll have to go to THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS for them. Just left click to enlarge and then right click and save to your desktop.

We hope you enjoy using them and please come and leave us a link to show us what you do with them.

Sunday, 24 April 2011

HAPPY EASTER everybody. I hope you're having a great time but watch those calories with all those eggs, lol.

Thanks for all your fabulous Easter creations from last week, there were some real stunners again but, our winner this week is #32 Mocca22 with this really lovely card.

Our Top 3 this time are:#25 Lori for her gorgeous card with the little eggs tucked in.#34 Ira with her fabulous Peter Rabbit egg.#85 An for her beautiful, elegant egg.Congratulations ladies, they were all really lovely. Please take your winner and top 3 badges from the sidebar and Mocca22, if you click on Contact Us and email Debbie, she will sort your prize out for you.

Now, I have some sad news again. Our lovely Pat has decided to step down from the team to pursue other things. We are so sorry to see you go Pat. It's been lovely working with you and thank you for all your yummy creations that you've made for us. We all wish you well.This week is also the last week that Caroline, our GDT, will be with us, so thank you to you too Caroline. It's been a pleasure having you with us.

Right, onto this weeks theme which is CIRCLES. Loads of options from ready made die cuts and nestie shapes to circular sentiments and round cards. The more circles the better though. We have two lovely sponsors this week and they are LETRASET and THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.Letraset are giving a pack of grey markers and you can also have 3 digi images of your choice from The Crafty Pad Designs.

Here's what our design team made this week all using one of Debbie's Easter bunnies available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

GDT CAROLINE

PAT

MAGGIE

LORRAINE

ALI

THE NAVY WIFE

DAWN

The challenge will close as always, next Saturday at 8.00pm GMT.

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar so please go and have a look and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you and can I ask you again to PLEASE, please turn off your word verification if you don't mind. It's very time consuming making comments and it really does make like easier for us without it. Thanks.

We can't wait to see all your lovely circles and how you use them.xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Half way through another week already. Where on earth does time go? This week we have a lovely photo board for you to make, lovingly put together for you by Debbie. These are so much nicer than a cork board and have all sorts of uses....................

This is my tutorial for making a photo/card holder for your wall. I have used a bought canvas for this project but of course, you can use whatever size you prefer.

Paint your canvas your chosen colour. I have used Metallic Water Colours – Lilac for mine. Allow to dry. Now choose your colours of ribbons – I have used Grosgrain ribbon. It is stronger than most and does not fray easily.

For the first layer - Lay your ribbons diagonally across your canvas starting in the middle and working outwards leaving equal spaces as you go. I have used 9 lengths of ribbon.

When you are happy with your layout lightly mark the edges of the canvas for the final position of the ribbons. Using a staple gun, pull your ribbon tightly and staple your ribbon to the wooden frame on the back of the canvas. Start with the centre ribbon and then continue stapling the ribbons until the first layer has covered the canvas.

For the second layer of ribbons –Starting from the centre of the canvas again, lay your ribbons diagonally the opposite way to the first layer. This will create a ‘trellis’ pattern. Keep your ribbons at equal spaces again. I have used 7 ribbons on this layer.

When you are happy with the position of the second layer – mark the position again lightly.

Turn your canvas over and staple one end of the ribbon – DO NOT staple the other end at this stage. You will now need to thread the ribbon under and over the first layer alternating as you go. Do this for all 7 ribbons.

The other end of the ribbons can be stapled once you are happy with the alternating – don’t forget to pull the ribbon tight before stapling.

Now you have a great photo/card holder.

I have used mine for holding cards I have made from The Crafty Pad Designs images. I have also added a few photos of my beautiful grand daughter to show it can be used for either or both together.

So there you are. A lovely way to display your fave pics and cards. Don't forget to come and leave us a link to have a peek if you make one.

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Happy Sunday everybody. How are you all coping with the school holidays?

A couple of weeks ago, we ran an altered CD competition. Thank you to those of you that entered. Your 'alterations' were fabulous, but after much discussion amongst the design team, we decided the winner is TINE. We loved what she'd done but also the fact that it actually has a use.

Well done, Christine. Brilliant. Please click on Contact Us, email Debbie with your full postal address and she will get your prize out to you.

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar so please go and have a look and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you and can I ask you again to PLEASE, please turn off your word verification if you don't mind. It's very time consuming making comments and it really does make like easier for us without it. Thanks.

Saturday, 16 April 2011

Hi Debbie here with a post that is a tad different! I love it when new small companies start up and I love to display their badges etc if I can. :) So this post is all about BAGS OF LOVE
They are a fabulous website offering personalisation of all types of gifts with your favourite photographs. I myself have just received a gorgeous canvas printed with my chosen photo on it and I can honestly say it is perfect, great service and quick too. :)
I was thinking that if you made or received a beautiful card you could perhaps use a photo of it to personalise an item from Bags of Love or what a great gift to give to match the card you are giving too. :)
Pop over to Bags Of Love and see what they have to offer and hope you like what you see. :)

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Good morning everybody. I hope you're all having a good week so far. We've got something a little different for you this week. We're going to make a cake! Yep, we're going to show you how to put a digital image on a cake. This tutorial was prepared by Clare, Debbie's daughter in law, so thank you Clare - it's fabulous. Although, I have to say that I'm a tad miffed that you didn't send me a slice, lol. Clare has used Fairy Chloe on her cake, available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

Whilst on the subject of food, look at this fabulous recipe sentiment image. It's another of Debbie's new releases, also available at The Crafty Pad Designs. The coloured example was done digitally in Photoshop but you could use your markers or paints or just leave it white. It makes a great focal image but is also suitable for an insert.

Right, let's get baking.We are using an 8 inch round sponge cake.

To make the plaque that will sit on top of the cake, roll out approximately 150 grammes of Roll out Icing.

This needs to be rolled out slightly larger than a cd which is 12cm. Set a cd on top of the icing and cut around the it. Allow to dry 24 to 48 hours.

We have cut our cake into two and filled it with buttercream and jam (optional). Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of butter cream.

Roll out more icing approximately 600 grammes – enough to cover the whole cake, cut away excess. Smooth and decorate as you wish. I used a cake smoother to smooth my icing.

The decoration was made on the top of the cake with an Icing Crimper. The base of the cake was piped with royal icing and a ribbon was added to finish.

Keep your tracing paper still and do not push heavily on the icing as this will leave finger prints. Using a sharp pointed tool (piercing tool or needle) retrace back over the image on the greaseproof paper onto your dried circle you made previously.

Don't worry if you've missed little bits at this stage.

You will need to use the piercing tool again to go over the image on the icing – this is to make the image deeper and you can re-check any detail you may have missed.

Select some fine brushes and the colours you wish to paint your image in – we have used Food Colouring Dust – Edible Tints, colours – Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Brown, Peach & White for the flesh. These tints are powder and need to be mixed with blending solution or you can use Alcoholic Spirit like Vodka. Do not use water to mix or paint on with.

When your colours are ready, paint your image.

Completed Fairy Chloe image. :) We have added a touch of non toxic glitter to her wings.

To complete your cake place the decorated plaque on top of your cake and decorate further if you wish.

So there you are. Brilliant isn't it? Perfect for your little princess's birthday. Enjoy making it and once again, a big thank you to Clare for doing this for us.